Have you ever heard of Reverse Dieting? If not, you might assume it to be a dieting tactic wherein you have to eat more to reduce weight (that’s what most Internet resources will also point you toward). But though its name and description make it sound like a highly contradictory concept, it’s actually a proven phenomenon that has gained much popularity among the health conscious.
If you’ve always wanted to know about Reverse Dieting, well, you’re in the right place. Let’s find out what it is and how much importance it holds.
What is Reverse Dieting?
Reverse Dieting is often formulated as ‘a diet after a diet’. It’s an eating strategy wherein we gradually increase our calorie intake for months so as to boost our metabolism. The plan is often undertaken after a diet that places strict restriction on the calorie intake. It aims to normalize the body to a normal eating pattern so that it suddenly doesn’t start gaining weight.
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How does it work?
When we diet, we reduce our calorie intake and that creates a deficit (consuming fewer calories than what the body needs). Over time, our body starts to adjust to this deficit and our metabolism becomes slightly slower, which helps us conserve energy. Now although this works wonders when we’re on a diet, it might become a problem when we wish to return to our regular eating pattern while also maintaining our weight.
Reverse Dieting works in the opposite direction. Under this plan, you need to consume 50 to 100 calories more than your baseline per week (baseline here means the amount of calories you’re currently taking in).
Usually, this kind of dieting lasts from anywhere between 4 weeks to 10 weeks, but you can also continue it till you reach your regular food intake (before you started the original diet). The increased calorie intake can help you boost your metabolism besides normalizing various hormone levels like leptin (the hormone responsible for the regulation of your appetite and body weight).
Read – What Is the Slow-Carb Diet?
Benefits of Reverse Dieting
Although research is still going on in the field of Reverse Dieting to explore all its potential benefits, it is claimed that the following advantages are certain.
- It lets you eat more: People find this diet enjoyable as they can eat more after they’ve dieted for several months.
- It leads to better energy level: Restricted diets often result in nutritional deficiencies which lead to lower energy levels and mood disturbances. With Reverse Dieting, the drawbacks of restricted dieting can be eliminated.
- It leads to reduced hunger: Gradual increase in calorie intake balances the level of various hormones leading to reduced hunger.
Summing it up
Any weight-loss method you use should aim at optimizing your overall wellness without compromising it. With sustainable lifestyle changes comes healthful weight loss. We hope this post will give you insight about Reverse Dieting and help you undertake a healthy weight loss journey.